Computer science, biology and pre-nursing were the top three majors chosen by undergraduate students for fall 2015 and fall 2014.
Manuela Quintero, a sophomore and Interdisciplinary Studies major at Georgia State, initially enrolled in college as a Biology major.
“I was studying Biology for the money,” she said.
She decided to change her major to Interdisciplinary Studies, because it was more interesting to her than Biology. Manuela was assisted by her academic advisor when determining which major to choose.
Based on the report, 63.5 percent of students retained Biological Science in a total of four years, ranging from Fall 2010 to fall 2014. The four-year total retained percentage for first-time, full time freshmen from fall 2010 to 2014 majoring in Computer Science was 52.8 percent. Lastly, the four-year total retained percentage for Pre-Nursing was 51.7 percent.
Switching majors
American College Testing claimed some students are not declaring a major that truly interests them. ACT found out of 1.2 million high school graduates in 2013, 36 percent chose a major they wanted to pursue.
Audrianna Harris, a graduate of Georgia State, enrolled in college fall of 2012. She initially majored in International Economics and Modern Language with a concentration in Spanish, then switched her major to Economics with a minor in Spanish.
“I realized that I wasn’t passionate about Spanish as when I started and by pursuing the minor instead, I was pretty much done with all of my required Spanish classes,” she said.
Gabriel Perez, a graduate from Georgia State, received his bachelors in biology August 2013. In May, he graduated from Georgia State with a masters in microbiology. He never changed his major while in school.
Perez said he chose to major in Biology, because he wanted his work to be meaningful by leaving an impact on different people’s lives by making it easier for them.
Another factor that affected his decision was the 2008 great recession. He said he wanted to go into a field with a high job security and believed being a dentist or a scientist would provide him with that opportunity.
Although high job security was a factor, he made sure that he would enjoy his field of study as well.
“To value money above social capital is a grave mistake. Personal satisfaction is more important than money. It is what makes us more productive,” Gabriel said.
